Whatever Wednesday: Reach for the Stars

I met some girl-friends in Lee Vining this past week-end for a long weekend of camping and photography.

One of the things we wanted to do was some night photography. With the Moon rising in the wee hours of the morning we had several hours of the dark sky to work with.

After sunset which wasn’t too colorful, we went searching for a neat foreground to accompany a Milky Way image. We found this wonderful dead tree on a country road. We had a lot of fun shooting it and admiring the stars is always so peaceful.

If you look closely you’ll see I managed to capture several shooting stars in this frame.

The bright object above the tree is Jupiter.

I have quite a few images to share in future posts from this week-end that include Wild Mustangs, a Ghost town at night, and some landscapes.

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Author: circadianreflections

My name is Deborah Zajac. I'm a photographer living in Nevada at the base of the Eastern Sierras. I am a passionate nature, landscape, night/astro photographer. I shoot predominately in color and use Nikon Digital Cameras, and lenses.
I hope you enjoy seeing some of the photos I've taken while on my travels.
Please feel free to leave a comment I'd love to hear from you.
View all posts by circadianreflections

That is gorgeous … love the tree and composition! I have been lazy about getting out for some night photography. I am always looking for subjects that will stand out against the night sky and sunset. I’ve found it’s not that easy to find the ideal subject, especially when you want to use a wide angle for the long exposure. Any tips? 🙂

Thank you so much Denise! It’s not easy is it. You do need to be able to be somewhat close to your subject to make it work.
We tried a couple of spots on this night. One was a new idea that once at the spot we realized quickly it wasn’t going to work, and the other spot was already taken. Someone else knew that spot! So, disappointing. So, off we went down another lonely road hoping we’d see something like a cool dead tree and we happened to find one. It was just luck.

Since that was going to be our last lonely road before giving up I’ve been thinking of carrying some extra things in my kit and making myself or one of my friends the subject if Plan A doesn’t work out.

Never stop looking cause one day you’re going to find that perfect subject!

Yes, much better. Thanks for thinking of me. My system, particularly my skin, is being much slower to acclimate than I ever expected. Since I made a similar change 15 years ago (Nashville to Albuquerque) — with no adjustment needed and no problems… Well, silly me, I expected to do that again. LOL. I still love it here, though. There is a rightness to it. Hugs back.

My skin is a whole lot dryer here. I’m bathing in moisturizer, and have added a water softener to the house. My skin should be getting better soon, but thankfully, it’s not allergies. I wish I had something as easy as moisturizer to point you to!

That’s such a gorgeous night sky, Deborah!! I had fun looking at Jupiter while I was visiting my parents because they have more open land and less light pollution, although the moon was quite bright while I was there. 🙂

OutSTANDing photograph!!!! And oh, man, I blasted to the past when I read “Lee Vining”. No, not the name of an old boyfriend. Our #2 Daughter spent several summers working at Mono Lake. If you haven’t been, go! It’s on my bucket list, after seeing her pictures.

Thank you so much, Marian! How cool you know about both Lee Vining and Mono Lake! I’ve been to Mono Lake quite a number of times. In fact, I was there the evening before this shot for the sunset. It was pretty and very amethyst!
I have photos!

What did your #2 daughter do while working there? Was she a Ranger? A biologist or something else altogether?

Cool MW shot. Hope you guys got some great shots of the Eastern Sierras and Bodie at night. Too much overcast weather here on the coast to get a MW shot right now and I have a location in mind; maybe I’ll get lucky soon.

Going out tonight to photograph the fireworks? I’m going to try from a hill near home. I haven’t got a clue which way to look! Perhaps, there will be others on the hill to show me the direction the fireworks will come from. LOL!

Have you culled your WordPress Media Library to add more space? I periodocally remove duplicates that sometimes I have created by uploading an image then see it in the blog and think, “nope, that’s not good.” then fix it and upload the better image. I’ve also only posted smalled images not full sized ones which take up less space and detracts image theives. My longest side is 1024 pixels or less. I’ve had this blog going since January 2010 and still have lots of space.
I don’t know how long you’ve had your blog it may be much longer than me!

Thank you so much, John! Yes, that’s light pollution on the right. I think it’s the little town of Big Pine with some ranches mixed in along the way to there. It’s getting harder to get a truly “dark sky” anymore.